Newcastle North MP has taken her support for the bid to redevelop the West Denton Pool into a new state-of-the-art, net-zero carbon leisure development to Parliament, and again called on the Government to back the Levelling Up Fund bid.

Catherine has worked with Newcastle City Council to submit a bid to the Levelling Up Fund to secure a £22mllion Outer West Leisure Centre including a swimming pool, sports hall and gym, as well as a café, library and community space, following the closure of the West Denton Pool as a result of the pandemic. More information about Catherine’s campaign can be found here.

During the Business Statement Catherine put the case directly to the Leader of the House of Commons highlighting that “Emerging from the pandemic as a healthier country is one of the Government’s key priorities for this Parliament. But it is communities already facing some of the country’s worst health inequalities, like West Denton in my constituency, that have sadly seen their local fitness facilities close for good during the pandemic.

“Reducing health inequalities is essential to delivering on the commitment to level up the poorest parts of the country, and access to modern, local fitness facilities is a key part of that, which is why the Government should back Newcastle City Council’s Levelling Up Fund bid to develop a new state-of-the-art, net-zero carbon leisure development in the Outer West of Newcastle.

Catherine also called on the Government to use “the Levelling up Fund to manage the recovery in a way that helps people lead healthier lives”.

Following the exchange Catherine commented “Residents in the Outer West deserve access to high quality fitness and leisure facilities and the bid has the potential to be transformational – not only would it improve health and wellbeing outcomes, but it would also act as an anchor in the local community, playing an important part in rejuvenating the Outer West of Newcastle”.